help!!!

[timrandlerv10]

I just got a mail order box, and its freezing cold. what should i do? i unwrapped all the bags and laid them on my desk.
i wanted to float the bags, but i thought that might be a really fast temp change.
should i turn off my lights/heater to lower the tank temp some too?

its really varied...snails, shrimp, crabs, stars, pods.

waiting here doing nothing for a few minutes...HELP!!!

 

[buzzbait00]

Id float the bags just as the tank is and then quickly call me to get two gift cards.

 

[Hard-Rock]

I agree on the gift cards.

 

[NicoleC]

Float the bags -- the temp won't go up really fast, but fast isn't so terrible when conditions are that bad.

Leave the tank alone, but turning the lights about during acclimation and release is a good idea. Especially if you have hungry fish!

 

[KwajRocks]

I once had a shipment of fish that got waylaid in Nashville for a weekend. Folks there did not know what to do with a "Live Fish" shipment, so they put them in the REFRIGERATOR - from Friday night until Monday morning when they were shipped to me. Believe it or not, they arrived alive. Floating sideways, but alive. Only one small fish was dead - a Banghai cardinal. I acclimated them same as usual, and they were no worse for the wear.

 

[KwajRocks]

Sorry, just noticed the time you posted. Let us know what happened.

 

[Tomoko Schum]

I heard a lot about box being tossed around, but tropical fish in the fridge? That's a new one.

A cooler temp during shipping is actually better than a hot temp. It slows down the metabolism of the fish and they have a better chance at survival. I also had a big batch of tropical fish lost in shipping in the middle of the winter for 11 days at the courtesy of USPS priority mail. Amazingly, a half of the fish survived. If this was in the middle of the summer they would have been all dead and stinky.

Tomoko

 

[timrandlerv10]

12 hours later

12 hours later

we lost a blood shrimp, a sea cuke, a sally, ALL the copepods, all the stars--10 micro, a brittle and a sand sifting, about 5 snails (i dont know which are which, but all the turbos lived), a shrimp i cant identify.

the good news is the peppermint shrimp are exploring...they have decided the best place to be is right next to my rbta's foot. the emerald crabs are all hiding together, the porcelain crabs are exploring, the living snails are all over.

hopefully everyone will still be there tomorrow morning. i'm no expert, but it looks like they are scouring for food, and i think (feel?) like this is a good sign.

 

[6Speed]

Where did you order from?

 

[KwajRocks]

Very good considering that everything could have died.

11 days! That is a record!

 

[Tomoko Schum]

I was very sure that everything was dead, but these fish proved me wrong.

6Speed - I believe that Tim ordered them from Florida Pets.

Tomoko

 

[timrandlerv10]

yup.

everyone still living, so no delayed shock victims.



the blood was a cleaner I miss id'd and the unknown was a galapagos. one previously thought dead star was really alive...we qt'd everyone suspected of death for tg hrs just in case